Her First Dance
by Corporal Maladict
Summary: Young Salacia von Humpeding prepares for a ball her parents have forbidden her to attend. In the ballroom full of human bourgeoisie she meets a handsome, dark-haired vampire, who introduces himself as Maladict. Femslash, Mal/Sally.


_Dedication: To all the Mal/Sally pairing fans in here/out there/wherever they are._

Note: There will be a chapter from Mal's point of view too, later.

**Her First Dance**

There was going to be a dance at the Merchants' Hall in Bonk. Everyone in Überwald was invited – everyone respectable and reasonably wealthy or noble, that is. This included the von Humpeding family, who were pillars of the community, despite, or perhaps because, of being vampires.

"We're not going!" Announced young Sally's father.  
"But Dad…" Sally began. She'd just received her new dress, ordered all the way from Ankh-Morpork. It was crimson, her first real adult dress. She'd been looking forward to any excuse for wearing it. Vampires, of course, wore evening dress all the time, but not a dress as expensive as this one, not according to her mother. Right now, Sally was wearing a dress decorated with some genuine black pearls – but it was locally made, so that was alright.

The Ankh-Morpork dress, as Mrs Von Humpeding called it… it was properly underwired, with four layered underskirts in black lace, and cut so revealing at the top that it had taken Sally three weeks to convince her mother she was old enough for it. And when she'd tried it on, three months after placing the order by mail, she herself had wondered if she was in fact old enough, but she hadn't, being a teenager, told anyone of this nagging doubt inside her.

No, it was not an everyday dress. One could get …wine stains on it. It could be torn on some random iron spike of the family mansion's gothic architecture. No, you had to reserve a dress like this for special occasions. And in Sally's opinion, the Merchants' Hall Annual Ball would be the perfect opportunity.

"No buts, Sally. No other vampire family will be attending, either. These people are the bourgeoisie. They keep inviting us all every year, and we keep ignoring the invites every year. They're human, and not even of noble lineage. There won't be a single duke in attendance, and probably not many counts, either, not what I'd call proper counts, anyways. Someone calling herself Queen of Skund has started bestowing titles to dwarfs, can you imagine?" Her father explained to her, and then went on to his usual rant about how nobility got no respect nowadays, titles were for sale, and worse, people made up titles and got believed by credible humans who didn't travel far.

Sally sighed. Of course. He'd said the same thing last year, and probably every year before that, but Sally hadn't paid much attention. Last year she'd still worn a girl dress, not a woman dress. Last year, Balls had been boring, and no one had danced with her. There was no use arguing with her father. Sally could usually change her mother's mind if she just persisted long enough, but when her father decided something, his mind was made and unchangeable. And the decision to not attend the Annual Ball had obviously been made many years ago, probably before Sally was even born.

"…this Queen of Skund, for example, there can't be a Queen in Skund, there's not even a castle! I mean, it's a bit of forest, and it's part of the Kingdom of Lancre! Salacia, you're not listening to me." This was her father, never bothering to ask 'are you listening' for he knew his daughter.  
"Sorry, Dad." Sally sighed again.  
"Your mother will explain to you why we can't attend."  
Sally stood up. "No need. I understand, Dad. We cannot attend the ball, because it's not for the likes of us. We have to be mindful of our station and our status. It's alright, Dad. I wouldn't want to attend a stupid ball full of smelly humans, anyways!" She stormed out of the room.

The matter was not discussed again. But on the evening of the Ball, right after sunset, Sally got up from her coffin before anyone else in the house did, and sneaked off into the dusk. She entered one of the outbuildings, where she'd prepared everything the previous night. There, not shivering in the cold, for vampires didn't pay much attention to things like air temperature, she changed into the Ankh-Morpork dress, did her hair up in a style she'd seen in a book, and put on her best jewelry.

Sally wished she'd have some better jewelry. She had a silver choker necklace with a large ruby surrounded by small diamonds… she had a bracelet made of black pearls… and she had a pair of earrings with rubies that matched the necklace. Compared to her mothers' jewelry, they weren't much, but it suddenly occurred to Salacia that the humans at the ball would be unlikely to have anything so fine. And she would quite possibly be the only woman there in a new dress made in Ankh-Morpork a mere month ago! The local dressmaker was very good at making evening wear, she had to be, with so many vampires in the region, so human women in Bonk seldom went any farther for their dresses.

Salacia didn't, of course, look at herself in a mirror. Instead, she put on red shoes, a black fur stole, and the long red gloves that had been ordered with the dress. She headed out, on foot, and stopped a passing farmer to ask him how she looked. He could find no words, and she took this as a good sign.

Bonk wasn't far. Normally, though, Salacia would turn into bats to get there, but this time there would be no servant waiting with a set of clothes at the family's town apartment. She found walking this far rather difficult, especially in shoes made more for dancing. However, being a vampire, she looked very graceful when she entered the ballroom. The seneschal, or whatever the merchants used for one, announced her:  
"Lady Salacia von Humpeding!"  
Salacia resisted the impulse to ask him to add some more of her surnames – it would ruin her grand entrance. She was definitely feeling like a Salacia now instead of the casual Sally, and that would have to be enough.

She looked around, and used some of her other senses, and what they told her of the male half of the guests was that they'd been invited because they were rich and respected, rather than to give the young maidens something nice to look at. There were many young maidens there, human, red-cheeked, but Salacia was glad to note none of them had a dress as fine as hers, or as fine jewelry. Only one old woman wore rubies, and they clashed with the color of her dress. Now, if she only could find a dance partner who didn't instantly make her retch… her eyes scanned the room.

"Tall, dark stranger!" Cried the voice of the announcer. Salacia's head turned, along with every other female head in the room, and her breath caught in her throat. He was a vampire. And he was…

Quite adequate. Yes, he'd do. He was dressed in a tuxedo that was shining white, such as a groom might wear to a wedding. He even had a cane and a white top hat, which he gave to a waiting servant. His hair was black, and cut short. It was, Salacia reflected, rather an unfortunate haircut. It made him look… a bit too serious. As if he didn't get enough to eat.

Speaking of food, the human maidens crowded him. His reaction was puzzing. He didn't simply clasp the nearest hand… nor did he scan the group of admirers for the prettiest face, or even the healthiest complexion. It seemed he was annoyed by all this attention. He spoke some polite refusals to young women who'd forgotten their manners enough to actually ask a man to dance instead of waiting to be asked.

And then… Salacia smiled to see this… he headed straight for her. She didn't remember seeing him anywhere before. But Salacia herself had had to refuse many offers to dance, from human men so ugly she couldn't bear to touch them. She was, everyone seemed to agree, the most beautiful woman in the room. Of course, the 'tall, dark stranger' would aim for her.

He bowed, very gracefully. "I don't believe we've been introduced, milady." He stated.  
"No. we haven't. And you would be?" Salacia asked him, something in his voice making her unwilling to give her name at once. Why did he sound so cold? Was he an enemy of her family's?  
"Call me Maladict. I am nobody, from nowhere, and unworthy of your presence, flower of the night."  
Flower of the night? Salacia resisted a childish impulse to giggle. Did he get his pickup lines directly from Klatchian poetry? He was dreadful, oh gods, utterly dreadful at speaking to a woman. She allowed herself to smile at him. "I am Salacia von Humpeding. My family lives near here."  
Maladict nodded. "Indeed. I have heard of the von Humpeding family. Everyone has. But I don't see your parents in attendance, lady Salacia." He looked around, as if he could have missed other vampires in the room.  
"They couldn't come. I came instead, to represent the family." Salacia was aware of many humans listening in on the conversation, curious, of course, eager for some gossip about the affairs of vampires. Humans so delighted in discussing vampires, whether they liked them or not. She knew this statement would get her in trouble later, but she was already in trouble, anyways. Her father could not possibly get any angrier than he would be when she went back home. She just had to hope he wouldn't actually come to the ball to retrieve her back before she'd even had any of the fun she'd be punished for later.  
Maladict nodded again. "I see. May I have the honor of this dance, milady?" He asked, grinning. The orchestra was beginning to play a traditional Ûberwaldean waltz.  
"You may indeed, sir." Salacia smiled her most mysterious smile and allowed him to lead her to the dance floor.

_To be continued... _

I could really use feedback on this one too. Especially suggestions on what Mal might be thinking. Also, I am desperately looking for more info about the Evil Empire. Such as, when did it fall down? I haven't found anything on l-space wiki or wikipedia.


End file.
